One of the justifications used in the pricing of Hemgenix is this:
Without the drug, a sufferer may incur hospital charges up to $1 million each and every year. Multiple hospitalizations each year are common. $3.5 million for a one-time therapy looks like a savings.
My somewhat snide opinion is the hospital charges are wildly padded, but no one is asking me.
One of the justifications used in the pricing of Hemgenix is this:
Without the drug, a sufferer may incur hospital charges up to $1 million each and every year. Multiple hospitalizations each year are common. $3.5 million for a one-time therapy looks like a savings.
My somewhat snide opinion is the hospital charges are wildly padded, but no one is asking me.
In addition: even if we did replace 50 expensive hospitalizations with one slightly-less expensive gene therapy….
the hospitals would just charge $70,000 to someone else.
The history of health reform has many examples of new technology that was sold on its ability to reduce hospital costs….robotic surgery, etc.
But hospital costs never in fact go down. Someone else just gets overcharged.